Badminton for an obese... need help!

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by green.blood, Jul 20, 2008.

  1. green.blood

    green.blood Regular Member

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    Hi all...

    In the last 4 years I've put on 40 kilos to my weight. I'm now 115 kg at 5'7" tall. Having started back to play the game recently I'm looking to improve my physical condition. As usual a fat man is slow, zero agility and etc.... I want to regain the missing attributes from my game. After a game normally I would feel pain around my feet and leg joints.

    My goal is to improve my health and hopefully to be able to play competetive club level games (doubles) by the end of next year.

    So guys, can you help me out? I really need some tips/advice on how to achieve my goal :)
     
    #1 green.blood, Jul 20, 2008
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2008
  2. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    At the risk of stating the obvious: you need to lose some weight.

    At this stage, I suggest your primary goal should be to achieve a healthy weight, rather than to pursue achievement in badminton. Your BMI is almost 40, which puts you at high risk of an early death from cardiovascular disease.

    Your extra weight also greatly increases the stress on leg joints, such as your knees.

    The most effective way to lose weight (short of radical, dangerous surgical intervention) is to follow a calorie-controlled diet and perform regular exercise. You should choose low-impact exercises wherever possible, in order to protect your joints. Regular exercise will increase your metabolism, so you will use more calories even when at rest.

    Badminton is not a good choice of exercise for your body, because it is high-impact. You may still choose to play it, simply because it's fun; but be aware that your weight places you at increased risk of joint injuries in your legs.

    Achieving a sub-30 BMI will take a prolonged effort, since you'd need to lose about 30kg. Extremely rapid weight loss is inadvisable anyway (for one thing, you can be left with bags of excess skin!). I'm no expert on these matters, and you're best consulting a doctor; but I think about 1kg per week is a sustainable healthy rate.

    If you managed to lose 1kg per week, you would cease to be obese within about 7 months. After a further 2 months, you would no longer even be overweight. So realistically, even with perfect discipline, you can expect to spend the best part of a year reaching a desirable target weight.

    But it's well worth the effort. Apart from improving your general health, reducing your weight will greatly improve your ability to play sports.
     
    #2 Gollum, Jul 20, 2008
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2008
  3. green.blood

    green.blood Regular Member

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    Yepp... I'm working hard to reduce my BMI. If not in 5 years time I'm at risk of getting stroke! and I'm only 28...
     
  4. green.blood

    green.blood Regular Member

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    Yepp... I'm working hard to reduce my BMI. If not in 5 years time I'm at risk of getting stroke! and I'm only 27...

    So far this is how I'm doing it:
    Monday, Wednesday & Friday (At night - because working 8~7pm daily :))
    Brisk Walk + Quarter Sprints 30~40 Mins, some resistance exersice 20 mins
    Badminton on Saturdays ( 2~3 matches per session)

    For food:
    I stop taking cream and less sugar in my drinks.

    Usually will take carbo in the morning, some snacks in the evening (sandwich, fruits) and oat cereal with soya for dinner + lots of plain water.

    Also I take everything in half. No more chicken or beef, only once in a while. Replaced with fish based dishes.

    Only on saturday before my weekly badminton session I would take extra carb in the evening.

    For supplement, I take fish oil.

    For weight control, none. If there's a good one, please let me know :)

    Any comments on my method?
     
  5. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    I say go the low-carb route. Have you ever noticed that at a buffet, you can tons of food, but you always have room for some fruit/cake/ice cream afterwards. Carbs are funny in that they seem to bypass your sense of satiety.

    When your diet is low in carbohydrates (and consequently, fairly high in fat), your sense of hunger between meals disappears. Do some research on the subject - there's a lot more data supporting the efficacy of this style of eating than the supposed experts would suggest.
     
  6. DietCokeMan

    DietCokeMan Regular Member

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    I think you should also do skipping, sit up and push up. These help you to reduce weight too...;)
     
  7. V1lau

    V1lau Regular Member

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    My Opinion

    If you have access to a Swimming Pool and know how to swim, I think that would be the best way to approach your cardio and weight loss or at least something to add to your routine.

    Since I think your increased bulk will put severe pressure on your joints doing the aforementioned sprinting and walking. And that will only increase the risk of injury, which would put all your effort in vain.

    The benefits from swimming besides it having less risk of injury provided you follow common sense around the pool:
    1) You will get a total body work out .
    2) You body will learn to process oxygen better.
    3) It just fun to swim and a good relief from the heat of summer.

    Not a doctor, physician, or anybody in the know ... just adding some suggestions.
     
  8. ayiee1976

    ayiee1976 Regular Member

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    Agree with V1lau, swimming is good excersice. I swim more when i got injury (knee or ancle) Also should try cycling. Both activity do not put pressure on the joints thus reduce injury.
     
  9. green.blood

    green.blood Regular Member

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    Is this Atkins diet?
     
  10. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    Yes, that's the most popular one. The idea is that primitive prehistoric hunter gatherers only had access to fruit when they were in season, and no access to grains/legumes etc in the quantities that are eaten today. So, with this scarcity of high carbohydrate food, our bodies maximize our chances of survival by allowing us to (over)feed voraciously when they are available.

    Fast forward to the present, and while our genetics are mostly the same as back then, it is quite common for carb rich foods to be the dominant part of most meals. Our bodies are constantly in "storage" mode because of these foods. Even when we diet, if we keep eating these foods our bodies will still be in storage mode, so the effect on the body is the feeling of great hunger as opposed to making use of the stored energy in our fat cells.
     
  11. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Do you know how big 115 kg is? Do you know how physically difficult it is to do the exercises you suggested with that weight? I think these exercises should be ignored in the interim.

    Badminton is not bad except one has to realise one's own physical limitations. You cannot walk more than one step from the base. You cannot play games at this stage. There is the high risk of injury. I suggest all you do is just practice doing overhead shots first and train up the muscles gradually. Then mess around with other shots. It's tough to see others playing games and you cannot - however, those guys don't have the same weight problem.

    Avoid the sprints - risk of injury and it's only anaerobic metabolism.

    Avoid midnight snacks and after badminton snacks! A very common social theme in Asia is to go for food after badminton. Gotta avoid that and stick to light drinks. I think 100plus doesn't have much glucose in it.

    Personally, I think if you can cut out breakfast, you'll be doing well.
     
  12. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Another method I have seen is to have a balloon put into the stomach. This fills up part of the volume of the stomach so you feel full even after only eating a small amount. It needs a surgeon to put it in by using a gastroscope. As you can imagine, this costs more.
     
  13. twobeer

    twobeer Regular Member

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    Take 2-3 hour minum of brisk walks / day!! Drink much (water).. Keep track of your calories-intake, and cut down on Carbs (especially High-GI ones like sugar etc)..

    Whatever you do dont starve yourself.. this will just lower your metabolism, and you will gain weight as soon as you start eating normally again..

    Do not be to afraid to eat FAT (given its in your daily calori budget) Especially "god" fat like opalmolive-oil, fish-oil, coconut-oil (MCT fat especially) are really good to get the body to start using fat as fuel...

    Also.. Even if obese You can play "easy" doubles, and work on your strokes, netplay etc...

    Cheers,
    Twobeer
     
  14. twobeer

    twobeer Regular Member

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    You should really try to avoid the oat-cereal for your dinner!!! Overall.. don't cut down to much on your chicken and beef.. cut down on the rice, bread, otameal etc..

    Also do strenght training.. More muscles will need more energy and burn fat faster!!

    /Twobeer
     
  15. green.blood

    green.blood Regular Member

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    Actually when I play games it is always at lower rate/intensity than the fitter guys. Despite my size and weight I think I'm doing ok but certainly in a different manner.

    If I sprint maybe it's only equal someone's jogging pace. Anyway it tires me like hell, I sweat more than others and improving slowly. The important thing is keep on doing the routines at a consistent frequency.

    Certainly I avoid high impact exercises. No jumping in games but sometimes I did jump (not high like others!) In a way I do things within my own limits.

    The way I play games changes a lot. Now I rely more on smashes and placement. So far there has been some improvements in my technique.

    Anybody heard about L-Carnitine supllements?
     
  16. Dreamzz

    Dreamzz Regular Member

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    are those the tablets that somehow block the intake of either sugars or calories into your system? do you have to take them about 15 mins or so before every meal?
     
  17. phandrew

    phandrew Regular Member

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    I sent you a PM green.blood.
     
  18. kitseb

    kitseb Regular Member

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    I would question cutting out breakfast - its the most important meal of the day. As the saying goes "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."

    So, if you can try to eat a good breakfast, eat regularly (small amounts - e.g. fruit and veg) during the day, and have a small meal later in the day. That way you don't ever get really hungry and over eat. I am usually always hungry. So, if I only eat every 4-5 hours then I eat too much, but if I snack between meals (not crisps and chocolate!!) I eat much smaller main meals.

    However, lots of people don't have time to eat their biggest meal of the day at breakfast, so perhaps just have a good lunch instead. Having a big dinner means there is no time to burn it off so it gets stored in the body.

    Also, if you can afford it - get a heart rate monitor - then you can make sure that your exercise is aerobic fat burning and not anaerobic. Walking is a great exercise for this. Good luck.
     
  19. Sasho

    Sasho Regular Member

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    And now -- stuff to drink:
    L-carnitine and coffe.

    This combination makes miracles and carnitine is just food supplement :)
     
    #19 Sasho, Jul 21, 2008
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2008
  20. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    We do have a dietician on BF who can give more qualified advice. I know she's quite busy on other things though.

    There's another saying that goes "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". You really believe that?:)

    Physiologically, if you do not eat breakfast, and start your activities, you have less glucose in the blood, less glycogen and start to use other energy reserves.

    In fact, the OP did say he goes for walks in the evening;)

    In anyhow, the OP did say he's cut intake by half so that's pretty good.:cool:

    Like Gollum said...don't expect miracles. It took 4 years to put all that weight on. 4 months for it to come off is the stuff newspapers like to print. Gradual loss of weight will be more feasible. Enjoy life otherwise.
     
    #20 Cheung, Jul 21, 2008
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2008

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